NCAA’s Division I Council votes to shorten transfer windows

The NCAA’s Division I Council has voted to shorten the transfer portal windows for FBS and FCS football as well as men’s and women’s basketball, the NCAA announced on Tuesday.

The D-I Council reduced the total number of days players in FBS and FCS can enter the transfer portal from 45 to 30 days but preserved the spring transfer window. They’ll move forward with a 20-day winter transfer window from Dec. 9 — the Monday after conference championship games — through Dec. 28 and a 10-day spring window April 16-25.

In August, the NCAA FBS and FCS oversight committees recommended the elimination of the spring window, citing a focus on promoting “roster stability for student-athletes and their programs.” But the impending House settlement, which includes a change from 85-man scholarship limits to 105-man roster limits in football, will bring new complexities for roster management and team revenue sharing budgets this offseason.

Men’s and women’s basketball will also move from a 45-day to a 30-day transfer window that open on the day after the end of the second round of their NCAA tournaments. The transfer window in basketball previously opened on the day after Selection Sunday.

In all sports, players will continue to get an additional 30-day transfer window in the event of a head-coaching change, opening the day after the departure of their head coach is announced.

Once they’ve entered the portal, players will still be able to transfer to a new school at any time. Graduate transfers are currently allowed to enter the transfer portal between Oct. 1 and the end of their sport-specific transfer window.